This article is from page 12 of the 2012-10-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
GARDA stations in the county will close in the coming year, it is just a matter of where and how many.
Chief Superintendent John Kerin said the Garda Commissioner is expected to make a detailed announcement in the coming weeks that will see more rural Garda Stations locked up.
Only one station closed in Clare last year, Carrigaholt Garda Station, but more are expected to follow suit.
“As part of the plans more stations will be closed. I assure you more will close that escaped last time,” said the Clare Garda chief.
“Some will close this year and I can see more closing in the year ahead,” he added.
“It will present us with difficulties in the years ahead. It doesn’t help us when stations close. You lose the personal touch.”
It is not known what stations will close when the commissioner makes his announcement, but many rural communities fear the loss of their station and their local garda.
Among those communities is Doonbeg.
Murt McInerney, Doonbeg Development, said there is fear locally that the station will be closed.
“The garda was always a welcome presence in the village. However given the number of gardaí available closure of Garda stations seem immanent,” he said.
Chief Supt Kerin said, “I have lost 45 gardaí in the last two years through retirement,” adding that he expects to lose more in the coming years.
This will impact on the way the Gardaí carry out their day to day policing and will mean more co-operation and assistance from the public will be required.
“More and more we will be relying on people. The community has to protect its own property,” he said, encouraging people to keep property locked and secured and report any suspicious behaviour.
He encouraged people to “get a lot more nosey”.
The chief superintendent explained that if the Gardaí get information on a crime quickly it greatly enhances the chance of a quick arrest, and called for the establishment and reestablishment of more Community Alerts.”
“A lot of Community Alert schemes and Neighbourhood Watch programmes have become stale,” he said.
The chief superintendent is also taking time to consider a text alert system which is to be piloted in a number of areas in the district.
He said he has seen incidents where the text alerts have not been used properly opening up the sender to civil action.
He said he therefore wants to consider the best way to use this service so that it has maximum impact espe cially in rural areas, without leading to anyone being put in danger of legal action.